Going skateboarding? Go by motorcycle!
Fujifilm X-T4, F=200mm, f/8 @ 1/500th sec on ISO800, Acros B&W film simulation, shot using a Nikon 100-300mm lens, manual focus using focus peaking.
On Tuesday 22nd June, 2021 our local seat of government, the classic Parliament Building of Stormont, Belfast, was illuminated in blue, to mark the centenary of the first sitting of the Northern Ireland Parliament in 1921. I was commissioned to photograph the building, for publicity purposes, by Traditional Unionist Voice, one of the local political parties, whose initiative had led to this special commemoration event.
Continue reading Stormont in BlueA walk in mid June along the sea front at Bangor,- where I grew up – in the days before the Bangor Marina was constructed!
Continue reading Bangor by the Sea!its a fabulous BMW M4 Coupe, complete with Competition Sideskirts, and retailing new at a breathtaking £103K!

Shooting seagulls at Islandhill, near Comber today, using the Fujifilm X-T4 and a 55-200mm lens. The tide was fully in when I was there, so there was no chance of getting along the Causeway to the island itself. Still, there were a few photo opportunities.

On Thursday 7th January I crossed the straits between Portaferry and Strangford on the ferry, with my Fujifilm X-T4. It was a cold, bright winter day, and Strangford village was sparkling in the winter sunlight.

Tim (my son) who is a coffee aficionado, bought me some ’38 Coffee’ whole beans for Christmas. I’d duped him into thinking I was getting a brand new professional Gaggia from Santa, and he kindly thought that I’d need some beans for the big day – and of course to make him a decent cup of Americano. I was lying, of course – a serious breach of ethics, and one of those conscience riddled challenges that we all face from time to time.

One of the simple pleasures of life on a dull December afternoon, with the bad news of another impending lockdown, and Christmas restrictions – a nice cup of S.D.Bell’s ‘Natural Leaf Tea,’ freshly brewed; golden brown and full of flavour.

S.D Bell’s are Ireland’s oldest independent tea merchant and coffee roaster. Established in Belfast in 1887, the firm continues to supply the finest teas and coffees from around the world. You can order on-line from them. Just click: https://sdbellsteacoffee.com
There’s no doubt that an image like this will never be considered ‘beauutiful.’ It’s the inside of the cab of a huge mechanical shovel, the end used in quarries to lift tons of stone and gravel and load it into lorries.
I made the image, along with others, interior and exterior, as part of a commission for a commercial client, so it won’t ever be hanging on anyone’s wall!

Yet beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and photography, unlike some other disciplines is entirely subjective. What one person thinks is attractive and beautiful, will be repulsive to another. When I’d finished the commission, and sent off the completed images, this one still stuck out as interesting, if not exactly pretty. I like the almost ‘three dimensional’ aspect of the image, created by the juxtaposition of the levers and the screen, leading the eye in a convergence toward the starter key. The depth of field that blurs the image of other vehicles outside helps to keep the eye from straying outside the cab.
Fujifilm X-T4, F=55mm, f/5 @ 1/60th on ISO1600.